distracted driving facts (vehicle, estimate, Smart, mph) - Automotive -Sports cars, sedans, coupes, SUVs, trucks, motorcycles, tickets, dealers, repairs, gasoline, drivers... - City-Data Forum

victimofGM · 08-07-2014, 07:03 AM

Please feel free to double check my math and post corrections if any are found.

It's estimated that when people text and drive, they take their eyes off the road for 3 to 5 seconds. So I did some math to figure out how far would a vehicle travel in 3 seconds and at what speed. Below is what I found. Please feel free to copy and share what I've found with your social network. I think a great way to illustrate this distance is to take kids to a high school football field where they can clearly see the distance. I rounded off the distance to the nearest yards.

35mph=17 yards
45mph=66 yards
55mph=80 yards
70mph=102 yards
80mph=117 yards

cats234 · 08-07-2014, 07:17 AM

I think 35mph should be 51 yards since it would be half of what 70mph is

victimofGM · 08-07-2014, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cats234

I think 35mph should be 51 yards since it would be half of what 70mph is

You're correct. I double checked the math on that one and it did come out as 51 yards. Might be a mistake of fingers on smart phone. Good catch.

victimofGM · 08-07-2014, 08:02 AM

Here's how I came up with the numbers. One mile is 5280 feet. I multiplied that times the speed per hour. Divide that sum by 60 to show the distance per minute. Divide that sum by 60 to show distance per second. Change that number from feet to yards since there are 3 feet per 1 yard and I'm calculating 3 seconds of not looking at the road.

cats234 · 08-07-2014, 09:06 AM

I checked it's right

if you want to convert to 5 seconds multiply by 5/3

CoastalMaineiac · 08-07-2014, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by victimofGM

Please feel free to double check my math and post corrections if any are found.

It's estimated that when people text and drive, they take their eyes off the road for 3 to 5 seconds. So I did some math to figure out how far would a vehicle travel in 3 seconds and at what speed. Below is what I found. Please feel free to copy and share what I've found with your social network. I think a great way to illustrate this distance is to take kids to a high school football field where they can clearly see the distance. I rounded off the distance to the nearest yards.

35mph=17 yards
45mph=66 yards
55mph=80 yards
70mph=102 yards
80mph=117 yards

Google will do those calculations for you quite easily.

Search for something like this: 55 miles per hour * 3 seconds in football fields, and Google spits out the answer.